Session Report 46 - Giant Turtles & Shamanic Hydras
General Summary
"A plan with holes is still a plan. I, however, won't be participating in it."
-"Fernan"
Isle of Fractured Shells
The Drifters come upon the first isle on their journeys, which they later come to find is sometimes known as The Isle of The Fractured Shells. The majority of the isle is covered in a jungle, sized for creatures a bit larger than normal. The regular suspects for island expeditions quickly depart The Flying Flagon and get exploring. Ramone leads the way into the jungle finding a fair bit of interesting flora and fauna. On the way, Gunther uses some kind of magic, which the others notice but say little about, presuming it to simply be him trying to detect threats.The first bit of flora of note is a fruit which can be only described as a swordapple - like a pineapple but way bigger and the pines can cut you up real bad. Laire climbs a tree to get one, and, after some careful slicing by Grov, the party finds it's just as sweet as a pineapple but with a slight bite at the end of the taste.
The next notable finds are seeing some animals of unusual size - a poison dart frog the size of one's head, and a herd of giant antelopes. One antelope in the herd is in fact, a miniature giant antelope. The group also comes upon a branch of Dando-plants, which Ramone recognizes as tasting like actual feces but being lauded for their fantastic ability to cure even the worst hangovers. The party claims 7.
Finally, the group stumbles upon a patch of chillgrass - a blue grass known for being incredibly cold to the touch - and also being an excellent ingredient for potions. Within the chillgrass they find a creature dubbed a chillgrass charmer, which is a little round thing with button eyes and a tuft of hair. The charmer extends its body, somewhat resembling a cat held by the armpits, and begins to wiggle its long body. Locke and Grov both begin wiggling with it. It doesn't seem to be harmful, but it still does make you wiggle with it via some kind of hypnosis. Strange. Nonetheless, after Laire harvests some grass and gets a bit frostbitten, the party proceeds towards the beach on the south end of the isle.
Turtle Chase
The beach is a few hundred feet wide. The party takes immediate note of two details on the beach; firstly, there are 5 very large eggs, 4 of which seem to have been shattered and the final of which seems intact. Secondly, there is evidence of a shipwreck on the coast. Ramone approaches one of the shattered eggs, confirming that it is a turtle-like egg, and noting that it appears to have been shattered by a cannonball, which lies a few feet away. The group decides to leave the eggs and whatever laid them well alone, but as they begin to head back towards the jungle, somebody steps on a branch which cracks loudly. Already somewhat alert, the giant turtle which was hiding itself under the sand begins to rise. The Drifters quickly book it for the jungle.The chase is intense, and both Locke and Gunther are almost done in by the turtle more than once. Laire and Grov pull into the front of the group and notice what seems like a large hound running in the same direction as them. After a few more close calls, Locke makes smart use of magic to draw the turtle in one direction using Gunther as bait, then teleports Gunther some distance away while the turtle tries to get towards the no-longer-present target. Eventually, the turtle realizes that it will not catch the interlopers and returns to its beach as the ground crew hop in their rowboats and rush to The Flying Flagon. The turtle enters the water and tailgates the ship, no longer attacking directly but still ensuring that the unwelcome guests are kept well away from the isle.
In Transit
As the turtle pulls away, the crew notices a very large dog is in their midst, and Gunther introduces her as Ginger (after her hair colour) and tells them that she is his new familiar. The crew is more than welcoming of the dog, who is more intelligent than she initially appears.Some time later, Grov and Laire sit down for another game of chess, at Grov's request. Despite his claims to Ouchie that he will dominate the game, Grov quickly finds himself checkmated by the elf, who still claims his skills in chess genuinely aren't too exceptional. Laire goes off to continue to learn Si Oran, with a bit of help from Ramone. Meanwhile, Mitzlan makes the mistake of asking Grov why the crew seems to lay more chess than they gamble, unlike what he expects of pirates. Grov then claims that the crew is very refined, and ropes the Bodari, who has trouble saying no to anything, into learning chess from him.
That night, Locke calls the crew and, with the crew growing in size, asks that everybody come together for regular mealtimes and get to know each other a bit better, as opposed to stopping in and grabbing a meal from Fazili, as the crew was wont to do before.
The next morning at breakfast, Laire asks Locke what he's after regarding Charlie's Whale & Fishing Co., and Locke replies that he isn't after anything specific, only to knock them down a notch whenever possible since he knows as a fact that they are up to no good. Laire expresses his support and tells the captain that he doesn't need to be told how he was involved with them in the past.
Hydrapoint Isle
The Flying Flagon arrives at an isle shaped much like a hydra in the early hours of July 29th. Nora joins the team for this expedition, though she demands an even share with the other senior crew. Ouchie also comes along, having not given ouchies in a fair bit. The isle is inaccessible from sea level and requires its cliffs to be scaled. Luckily, all members of the expedition are prepared, and the group manages to do well in scaling to the isle.Upon the isle, the group finds 3 things of note; a lake, which Ramone finds to have 5 sources of heat within it using Spygleam, 5 spots of discolouration scattered about the isle, which Spygleam finds to be unusually warm, and small pieces of evidence that a bodari village was once here.
Heading to the spots of discolouration, the group finds that entering one of them grants a set of fragmented visions, then a presence which seems to follow you just behind your shoulder. The discolouration, much like the presence, follows you. The five members of the senior crew each visit one of the patches, picking up a presence each for themselves.
The visions, joined, form a story of a once happy bodari village which was set upon by a terrible drought. The old village shaman failed to stop the drought, eventually succumbing to sickness. A young new shaman appeared and provided the village with miracles, granting water and ending the drought, but demanded great repayment in the form of worship and sacrifice. Each vision ends with a flash of lightning and the feeling of being submerged in water.
From the lake rises an amalgamation, a hydra-like beast with the bodies of bodari upon it instead of heads. Each of the presences feels attuned to one of the heads, and one of the heads is none other than the young shaman, who commands the others. The Drifters fight the thing with some struggle, each person with a presence behind them feeling compelled to strike at the corresponding head to great effect. Eventually, the heads fall one by one. The central head uses great water magics but is unable to phase the pirates. Ouchie gets to give some good ouchies, and Nora manages to strike a few very solid hits - proving her worth. Locke casts a fire spell, striking down the main head with a final set of blows. The presences leave, the wills of the doomed bodari now but to rest.
A secret alcove opens, revealing some valuable bodari artifacts and some minor magical items, notably including a pair of rinds of shared suffering, allowing one person to impart half of their pain onto another. Locke considers using it to keep himself a bit safer. Nora takes her share of the artifacts, then the group heads back to The Flying Flagon to sail once more.
Report Date
20 May 2023
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